Ask HN: I made a programming language for contracts; I’m out of options; help?

[tastefulwords]

"Ok, Ok, Done" — Making contracts simple, for both humans and machines.

  - Deck: http://okokdone.com/deck/
  - Demo: http://okokdone.com/demo/
  - FAQ:  http://okokdone.com/faq/

Specifically, the tech is a custom markup language that allows not just for definitions but also allows for embedding logic.

I need 500k to run with this for a year: 4/6m to design & build; 6m+ to launch & grow.

I’ve pitched this to 6 VCs in the US; 2 were a waste of time, and 4 went well; of those, I think 2 were very close to signing a check. I’m nearly certain that, if my US network were larger and I’d have gotten more intros, I would’ve succeeded in raising.

I’ve pitched this to 14 VCs in the EU; most went well, and I think 3 of them were close to signing a check. I think the problem, in the EU, is this: (1) many VCs want to put ~100k into a good founder/idea, for ~10%; (2) many VCs want to put ~1.5m into a product with some traction; (3) I find myself in the chasm in-between.

I have 20 years of engineering experience and 10 years of product experience; I also have a previous (small) exit as a solo-founder.

I’m a solo-founder on this too. I had a co-founder, for a bit; we met after I built-out the idea, and he quit as we failed to raise money in the US. In the short time we worked together, I realized that we weren’t a good match and that very bad things might have happened in the future; so, though he had a perfect profile for this (lawyer; smart; techy), I didn’t try to change his mind. I won’t again risk making such a commitment to someone I’m not close to personally or professionally.

I’m happy to answer any questions, in public or in private — my email is in the deck.

P.S. 1/ I immensely appreciate any attempt to help. But, please, don’t dish out generic advice; I know all of the generic advice.

P.S. 2/ If you can’t think of a way to help but you maybe need someone with my skillset, lmk; I'll probably need a job soon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coarna

[offtop5]

Why can't I use it. This seems like it could be a really fun tool, for anything serious I have to forward it to a real lawyer anyway but I could imagine you get more traction if you publish a basic version of it.

Can you afford to hire a lawyer to assist you with this, I think your big problem here is that you desperately need a co-founder with a legal background to even pitch this thing.

[tastefulwords]

You can't use it yet because what I deem an MVP for this is far-away from what I have right now. At the moment, the tech is probably 80% of the way to what would be in a v1, but the design/experience is maybe 20% of the way there.

Getting this to a proper v1 requires a design exercise that's at least 2/3 months long, during which time I need a full-time designer and a full-time lawyer.

I don't think that I absolutely need a lawyer as a co-founder, but I do think that having one would definitely be great. (Which is why I tried that.)

[offtop5]

If I were you'd I'd push to try and ship anything, it looks brilliant and I'm sure if some people try it you'll have the push to keep going.

[tastefulwords]

I think you're probably right.

But, sadly, I have neither the energy nor the financial liberty to do so, after the nearly one year of full-time work that it took to get here. (The demo isn't just a mockup; the tech that powers it is production-ready, which is why it took so long; which might've been a mistake, but that's another story.)

[FaisalAbid]

What is the breakdown of where the 4/6m will go to build this?

[tastefulwords]

Breakdown of the first year, which is what 500k will get me (barely):

  - Month 1-to-4: Design/Build.
  - Month 5: Private beta with 10/20 freelancers.
  - Month 6: Start enterprise case-study.
  - Month 7: Soft launch for Freelancing.
  - MOnth 8-12: Raise next round.

I don't have a detailed breakdown for the Design/Build pahse.